Giants, Jets say 'anything goes' on the bottom of NFL fumble piles

The Giants’ center could not breathe for a moment during a 2011 preseason game, choked by another NFL player in a scrum for a fumble.

But Cordle understood.

In “the pile” — the darkest, most brutal netherworld in football — “anything goes,” he said.

“I was on the ground, and he just came sideways and grabbed me by the throat,” Cordle said of his unknown assailant. “You start thinking, ‘I have to breathe.’ ”

There is nothing in all of American sports quite like the fumble pile. It’s a writhing mob of oversize arms, legs and torsos all pulling, grabbing — and worse — for a football lost in a scrum of inhumanity.

When a pile breaks out, just one thing matters.

“Come up with the ball,” Giants linebacker Michael Boley said. “That’s the only rule.”

In other words, get it by any means necessary. That includes all varieties of punching, pinching and pulling.

Then there’s the dark arts. Eye gouging. Ankle twisting. Arm yanking.

And the unthinkable.

“Punched in the family jewels,” Giants tight end Martellus Bennett said. “It’s like Wrestlemania out there.”“There’s a lot of tugging, kicking, scratching, pulling of the facemask,” Giants receiver Victor Cruz said. “Whatever they can do to get that ball out.

“It’s basically just a melee — a ton of guys piling on each other trying to pull your limbs apart to rip the ball out.”

The Jets are well aware.

“It can be vicious. It can be nasty,” linebacker Garrett McIntyre said. “It’s something that you learn at a young age — you’ve got to do whatever you’ve got to do to get the ball.”

The bottom of the pile is dark, claustrophobic and largely anonymous.

No TV cameras infiltrate its depths. Referees wisely untangle bodies from the safety of the surface. Meanwhile, players wage war at the bottom, crushed beneath all that weight.

“You almost get claustrophobic,” Jets defensive end Mike DeVito said. “Like, ‘Oh man, I hope I can get out.’ You’re just curled up and feel that pressure on your chest.”

In the pile, there are only two kinds of people: the man who has the ball, and everyone else.

The only known defense for those who obtain possession is to curl up in the fetal position and wait.

Wait for help. And wait out the abuse.

Cordle has not been above finger-prying.

“In high school, I would gouge eyes,” he said. “I felt bad about it after. But not that bad.

“I haven’t been in that situation yet [in the NFL]. But I would if I had to.”

Despite the brutality, players swear the pile is as clean as it’s ever been.

All-seeing TV cameras — and the threat of fines — have pushed players to their best behavior. (The NFL does not keep track of fines doled out for behavior in the pile, said Randall Liu, the NFC’s communications director.)“People in the NFL are conscious that there’s cameras,” Kiwanuka said. “At this level, everyone knows if you do something, you’re going to get caught.”

This once was a league where former 49ers linebacker Bill Romanowski fractured the finger of Giant Dave Meggett in a pile during the January 1991 NFC Championship game while trying to pry away the ball.

And in 1986, former Jets defensive tackle Marty Lyons was flagged for throwing a few punches while laying on Bills quarterback Jim Kelly — what referee Ben Dreith famously described over his microphone as “giving him the business.”

Kelly was not guilt-free, reaching into Lyons’ helmet and clawing his face.

“I was laying on top of him,” said Lyons, a Jets radio analyst. “He said a few things to me. I said a few things to him. He pushed me.

“Since I was on top, I figured I might as well get in a few punches.”

As vicious and dirty as the league can be, players contend it’s much worse in high school and college, where fewer eyes are watching.

For instance, in October, Ohio State officials sent video of what they contend is a Michigan State player gouging the eyes of Buckeye Johnathan Hankins to the Big Ten office.

“I had somebody pull out my dreads in college when I was playing Notre Dame,” said Kiwanuka, a Boston College product. “It hurt real bad.”

Jets guard Matt Slauson was a victim of a different sort at Nebraska.

“They’ll try to grab you in your crotch area,” he said. “They’ll grab or punch.”

Even without the … ahem, unsportsmanlike conduct … the pile is no cuddly place.

Giants, Jets say 'anything goes' on the bottom of NFL fumble piles

Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) would be best advised to stay out of the fumble pile. Players have reported everything from ankle twisting to eye gouging in the battle for the loose ball.

By JEFF ROBERTS

STAFF WRITER |

The Record

The stranger’s hand wrapped around Jim Cordle’s throat.

Then it began to squeeze.

The Giants’ center could not breathe for a moment during a 2011 preseason game, choked by another NFL player in a scrum for a fumble.

But Cordle understood.

In “the pile” — the darkest, most brutal netherworld in football — “anything goes,” he said.

“I was on the ground, and he just came sideways and grabbed me by the throat,” Cordle said of his unknown assailant. “You start thinking, ‘I have to breathe.’ ”

There is nothing in all of American sports quite like the fumble pile. It’s a writhing mob of oversize arms, legs and torsos all pulling, grabbing — and worse — for a football lost in a scrum of inhumanity.

When a pile breaks out, just one thing matters.

“Come up with the ball,” Giants linebacker Michael Boley said. “That’s the only rule.”

In other words, get it by any means necessary. That includes all varieties of punching, pinching and pulling.

Then there’s the dark arts. Eye gouging. Ankle twisting. Arm yanking.

And the unthinkable.

“Punched in the family jewels,” Giants tight end Martellus Bennett said. “It’s like Wrestlemania out there.”“There’s a lot of tugging, kicking, scratching, pulling of the facemask,” Giants receiver Victor Cruz said. “Whatever they can do to get that ball out.

“It’s basically just a melee — a ton of guys piling on each other trying to pull your limbs apart to rip the ball out.”

The Jets are well aware.

“It can be vicious. It can be nasty,” linebacker Garrett McIntyre said. “It’s something that you learn at a young age — you’ve got to do whatever you’ve got to do to get the ball.”

The bottom of the pile is dark, claustrophobic and largely anonymous.

No TV cameras infiltrate its depths. Referees wisely untangle bodies from the safety of the surface. Meanwhile, players wage war at the bottom, crushed beneath all that weight.

“You almost get claustrophobic,” Jets defensive end Mike DeVito said. “Like, ‘Oh man, I hope I can get out.’ You’re just curled up and feel that pressure on your chest.”

In the pile, there are only two kinds of people: the man who has the ball, and everyone else.

The only known defense for those who obtain possession is to curl up in the fetal position and wait.

Wait for help. And wait out the abuse.

Cordle has not been above finger-prying.

“In high school, I would gouge eyes,” he said. “I felt bad about it after. But not that bad.

“I haven’t been in that situation yet [in the NFL]. But I would if I had to.”

Despite the brutality, players swear the pile is as clean as it’s ever been.

All-seeing TV cameras — and the threat of fines — have pushed players to their best behavior. (The NFL does not keep track of fines doled out for behavior in the pile, said Randall Liu, the NFC’s communications director.)“People in the NFL are conscious that there’s cameras,” Kiwanuka said. “At this level, everyone knows if you do something, you’re going to get caught.”

This once was a league where former 49ers linebacker Bill Romanowski fractured the finger of Giant Dave Meggett in a pile during the January 1991 NFC Championship game while trying to pry away the ball.

And in 1986, former Jets defensive tackle Marty Lyons was flagged for throwing a few punches while laying on Bills quarterback Jim Kelly — what referee Ben Dreith famously described over his microphone as “giving him the business.”

Kelly was not guilt-free, reaching into Lyons’ helmet and clawing his face.

“I was laying on top of him,” said Lyons, a Jets radio analyst. “He said a few things to me. I said a few things to him. He pushed me.

“Since I was on top, I figured I might as well get in a few punches.”

As vicious and dirty as the league can be, players contend it’s much worse in high school and college, where fewer eyes are watching.

For instance, in October, Ohio State officials sent video of what they contend is a Michigan State player gouging the eyes of Buckeye Johnathan Hankins to the Big Ten office.

“I had somebody pull out my dreads in college when I was playing Notre Dame,” said Kiwanuka, a Boston College product. “It hurt real bad.”

Jets guard Matt Slauson was a victim of a different sort at Nebraska.

“They’ll try to grab you in your crotch area,” he said. “They’ll grab or punch.”

Even without the … ahem, unsportsmanlike conduct … the pile is no cuddly place.